vitiate

verb

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vi·ti·ate | \ ˈvi-shē-ˌāt

vitiated; vitiating

Definition of vitiate

transitive verb

1 : to make faulty or defective : impair the comic impact is vitiated by obvious haste— William Styron

2 : to debase in moral or aesthetic status a mind vitiated by prejudice

3 : to make ineffective fraud vitiates a contract

Other Words from vitiate Synonyms Choose the Right Synonym Did You Know? More Example Sentences Learn More about vitiate

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Choose the Right Synonym for vitiate

debase, vitiate, deprave, corrupt, debauch, pervert mean to cause deterioration or lowering in quality or character. debase implies a loss of position, worth, value, or dignity. commercialism has debased the holiday vitiate implies a destruction of purity, validity, or effectiveness by allowing entrance of a fault or defect. a foreign policy vitiated by partisanship deprave implies moral deterioration by evil thoughts or influences. the claim that society is depraved by pornography corrupt implies loss of soundness, purity, or integrity. the belief that bureaucratese corrupts the language debauch implies a debasing through sensual indulgence. the long stay on a tropical isle had debauched the ship's crew pervert implies a twisting or distorting from what is natural or normal. perverted the original goals of the institute

Examples of vitiate in a Sentence

The impact of the film was vitiated by poor acting. believed that luxury vitiates even the most principled person

Recent Examples on the Web The climate effects of such wanton deforestation will partially vitiate any environmental gains from the collapse in ground and air transport this spring. — Troy Vettese, The New Republic, 31 July 2020 They and Trump can be expected to argue that a party-line vote in the House should vitiate the stigma of impeachment. — Noah Feldman, The New York Review of Books, 19 Dec. 2019 By forbidding all comparison, this more expansive meaning is vitiated. — Peter E. Gordon, The New York Review of Books, 7 Jan. 2020 If the legitimacy of his actions is deemed vitiated by a potentially corrupt intent to impede the investigation, then his communications facilitate a crime and are not privileged. — Andrew C. Mccarthy, National Review, 17 Sep. 2019 Millennials have allied with Gen Z, and managed to vitiate the meme in the process by, basically, overdoing it. — Molly Roberts, The Denver Post, 7 Nov. 2019 This obduracy vitiates Congress’ role in the system of checks and balances, one purpose of which is to restrain rampant presidents. — George Will, Twin Cities, 29 Sep. 2019 Instead, put money into positive programs — head start, mentoring, teacher training – something that doesn’t vitiate the education process. — Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, 17 Sep. 2019 But vitiating dual sovereignty by judicial fiat would reshape America’s legal system in ways that are best left to the political branches. — The Editorial Board, WSJ, 5 Dec. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'vitiate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.